I’m handling EB-2 NIW on my own and got confused about how premium processing works. If the petition is approved in two months with premium, does that affect your place in the queue later? Or do you just get the I-140 approved earlier and still have to wait the same amount of time for your turn — say 2 years instead of 3 if you’d filed without premium? Or am I thinking about this wrong?
EB-2 NIW without a lawyer — does premium processing speed up your spot in line or only the petition?
Premium processing only affects the speed of I-140 adjudication; it doesn’t change your place in the priority date queue. We filed an EB-2 NIW with premium processing — it was processed in three weeks and was approved — but the 14 months of waiting in the queue didn’t go away. So you’re right — you’ll just get the petition approved earlier, but you’ll still have to wait the same amount of time for your date.
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Premium processing for EB-2 NIW is a guarantee of adjudication within 45 business days — that’s exactly how it works under USCIS rules. If the petition has already been pending for more than 45 days without premium, it makes sense to buy it; then USCIS is required to respond within that period. The priority date doesn’t change — it’s fixed on the day the I-140 is filed and the queue proceeds from that date; premium doesn’t affect it at all.
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